Soft skills are so important for teaching as well as working effectively with others.

It would be ideal to teach a class in soft skills, does any one see this lacking in Gen Y

What are some of the techniques you have used to manage students who have many personal problems which affect their learning performance and concentration? I have practiced the good listening skills when faced with this challenge and try to provide some positive feedbacks to help them finding the solutions to their issues and maximize their learning opportunities.

Learned to send student to proper advisor for outside problems

As an online Comp I facilitator for a mid-sized college, many students start the course lacking in several areas of soft skills. The development of self-esteem, time management, self-awareness, and personal responsibility are vital to the success of the online course and, truthfully, with any college class. Generally, the students hold a job and already have these skills to some degree, but may not understand how or why these skills should be used in an online enviroment. The frustration (and sometimes fear!) of the writing and research composition entails are significant factors that I strive to continually defeat. Building this bridge for the students calls upon my own skills of patience, commitment, flexibility, and adaptability are often called on to nearly extreme extents. The danger here lies between being understanding vs. students taking advantage of the perceived 'weakness' or 'slackness' that they may feel I project. The true test is to be fair and use soft skills, but project the same self-awareness and personal integrity that I attempt to foster with my students. Sometimes, since I do not see the students personally, it is difficult and mistakes/misunderstandings take place. Any insight on how to improve the bond between student and facilitator could be enlightening.

Hello: I teach at a very small community college and we get to know our students very well. This is to the point we know what motivates them and what frustrates them as well. I have found that I'm able to help control the frustration by listening and offering some guidance while at the same time encouraging them to excel.

Hello: I work in a very small school. Many of my students have strong emotions and often bring them from one class to the next. I ask that they refrain from openly criticizing instructors-- as this leads to a volatile situation many times. I will ask them to stop it and then after my class. I will see if they need to vent some frustration. I will encourage them to stay focused on their goals. If this does happen I will alter my lesson plan some to bring in a motivation tool to lift up the spirits in the classroom.

Why do so many people who are extremely smart have no soft skills?

THIS has long been my Achilles heal. I'm a procrastinator. The tips I've learned as an instructor have me improving here but I'm not there yet. Is anybody EVER really "there"? How will I know?

Soft skills as we know is a very important skills to have in the workplace as well as other areas in life. How can you effectively attempt to relay this to students and colleagues who aren't really interested in this skill in there profession without being redundant?

it is very important tomanage the students emotions eapecially in a new enviornment. it is easy for them to lose control and not learn effectively.

Will try to add some skills to my job and see if things improve.

What do you think the most important soft skills are for success in any workplace?

In your opinion, what is the most important quality that sets highly effective instructors apart from others?

In your opinion, what is the most difficult soft skill to teach to students?

What are some of the techniques that you use in the classroom that promote teamwork and help the students to further develop their soft skills.

In addition to cultural and ethnic diversity, briefly discuss the other types of diversity that instructors must be aware of to be effective teachers.

Briefly discuss effective ways to motivate students during instruction by tapping into their emotions.